The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to wireless communications using public and private access points.
Wireless mobile hotspots are widely acknowledged as providing an extremely adaptable mechanism for accessing the Internet from virtually any location. Whether as a stand-alone product or feature of a mobile device such as a smartphone, a mobile hotspot is an easy, convenient, and cost-effective mechanism for creating a personal Wi-Fi network from nearly anywhere. This convenience and efficiency are perhaps key contributors to the growth in network usage generally, which seems poised to continue well into the foreseeable future. As noted in a recent IEEE Spectrum article, there are currently an estimated 6.4 billion network-connected devices around the globe, and by 2020, that number is expected to reach 20.8 billion.